Dean Kittleson
Dean Kittleson is a British former driver for Lucky Seven Racing, Southern Cross Racing, Van Smirren Motorsports, True North Racing, Team Shadow, Greidanus Grand Prix and Aston Martin Racing. He competed in the GPGSL from Season 4 to Season 11. Season 4 After several years away from the motorsport scene (and subsequently missing the demise of the WGP and W300), Kittleson returned to motorsport, taking the only seat that was remaining in the entire GPGSL - a test driver role at Lucky Seven Racing. Kittleson subsequently made his testing debut in the Dubai Grand Prix, using the remaining seven races in the calendar to secure 16th place in the testers championship (and even managed to top the timesheets in his home grand prix of Silverstone). Season 5 Following the sale of Lucky Seven Racing to Mal Stoddart, Kittleson elected to remain at the newly named Southern Cross Racing. With former owner Randy Winston moving to Martini Paddock Racing and Ben Johnson taking a test drive at Team Shadow Subaru, this allowed Kittleson to acquire the 2nd race driver role alongside Ross Cartwright. Given his rookie status, Kittleson had merely hoped to bed himself into the series in the hope of retaining the second race driver role for Season 6. A solid race debut in Melbourne, where he finished in 11th, saw the Englishman secure his first points of his career - and he surprised many by securing 4th place in Le Mans, ahead of many more illustrious drivers. A strong rise up the field from 17th on the grid secured Kittleson a further 5 points in Suzuka, before denying himself a first career podium by running wide the in early stages of the Spa-Francorchamps race - where he subsequently finished in 5th. The steady run of points dried up in Barcelona following a career-worst finish of 19th, before securing his first ever podium in the GPGSL with a 3rd place in Interlagos, behind eventual championship winner Nick van der Voort and eventual runner-up Marko Aleksander, who took 2nd and 1st in Interlagos respectively. Following that surprise podium from the rookie, Kittleson subsequently stunned the paddock by taking pole position in Hockenheim - though there were doubts that Kittleson would not be able to secure a victory from that lofty position. The Englishman cast those doubts aside as he drove brilliantly, resulting in a lights-to-flag victory - his and Southern Cross Racing's first in the GPGSL. Kittleson's third podium in a row followed in Assen after finishing in 2nd, behind Season 4 champion Matt Houston - which meant that the rookie was only 4 points behind championship leader Nick van der Voort in the title race with just over half of the season to go. The run of podiums eventually ended with a 7th place at the Nurburgring, which was immediately followed by a 6th place in Monza - whilst his team-mate, Ross Cartwright, began to rise up the table with a 3rd and a win in those races respectively. A woeful 15th in Montreal qualifying appeared to have ended his unlikely championship challenge, especially with Marko Aleksander and Nick van der Voort qualifying high up the order. However, light rain during the race had sent Kittleson's championship rivals down the grid - whilst he rose up the order, holding off Jethro Walters in the final laps to secure the most surprising of wins. As a result, Kittleson was only 1 point off the championship lead. However, Kittleson's hopes of taking the title were all but over following a woeful 16th in Dubai and a collision with the walls in Adelaide - which led him to be 19 points behind Nick van der Voort with 4 rounds to go. A 4th place in Indianapolis gave the rookie some hope of staging a late comeback - but his championship challenge was over following an 11th place finish in Monaco and an 18th place finish in Instanbul. Kittleson's 8th place finish in Silverstone in the final race of the season, coupled with Ross Cartwright and Matt Houston's failure to score, resulted in the rookie securing a surprising 3rd place in the overall championship with 106 points. Season 6 It was confirmed before the end of the previous season that Kittleson would remain at Southern Cross Racing in Season 6, with the Englishman taking the #5 car in light of his 3rd place finish in Season 5. Despite a poor qualifying performance (where he qualified 15th), Kittleson was able to secure his first podium of the season in Melbourne, where he took advantage of some poor driving from his opposition drivers to secure 3rd behind returning two-time champion Philip Oakley and Martini Paddock Racing's Charrel Jalving. Racing record Complete Grandprixgames Super League results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap; underlined races indicate most places gained) Kittleson, Dean